Horatio McCallister, better known as the Sea Captain or Captain McCallister (also Pete), is a resident of Springfield. He's always seen holding a corncob pipe and squinting: because he has at least one glass eye - though once he was seen tapping both of his eyes and says he has 'two glass eyes'. In addition to eye(s), he also has an artificial leg.

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Horatio McCallister was, along with his wife, a treasure hunter. He and his wife were in a bar on a snowy mountain when a man came in and demanded that they hand over their half of a treasure map. The two of them worked together to fight off the man and burn down the bar and escaped with the second half of the map. They then found that the map led to Springfield, where they traveled to in the hopes of finding the treasure.[2]

Though he admitted that he isn't a real captain,[3] Captain McCallister has, incompetently, piloted several vessels. On one occasion, he wrecked a cargo ship full of hot pants;[4] on another, in a reference to the Exxon Valdez oil spill, he causes an oil spill by crashing his tanker while drunk.[5] He launches a river raft for Homer, only to have it sink immediately to the bottom. The captain's idea for Mr. Burns' casino involved three ships and fifty "stout men" who would "sail 'round the Horn and return with spices and silk".[6]

At one time, he tried selling his houseboat to Marge and Homer while they were looking for a new home and started grappling with a shark when it attacks through the floor.[7] He was apparently a Christian, as he had his ship blessed by Reverend Lovejoy until he learned at least three months later that Lovejoy's blessing the ship didn't count as a blessing since during the three months, his minister license was expired.

Captain McCallister ended up living with his wife in Springfield whilst he tried to locate sunken treasure. Eventually, after forty years of searching, Captain McCallister finally found the treasure. Upon arriving back at the shore, Mayor Quimby took the treasure away as he had changed the sea boundaries around Springfield so the town could claim the treasure for themselves. He found out about it after his wife told Mayor Quimby as she thought she should have been Horatio's treasure.[2]

As an entrepreneur, McCallister is equally incompetent. His restaurant, The Frying Dutchman, is a failing business venture that does not generate enough income to support its owner. He also once used Homer's bad review for his restaurant despite his hatred of it because it covers up the "D" from the health inspection agency nicely.[8] When seeing Homer and Marge walking Homer's pet lobster at the beach, he approached them and claims that he runs a "small academy for lobsters". However, when Marge refuses to send the lobster away to "some snobby boarding school", McCallister asks her for spare change instead.[9]

Captain McCallister has a wife, who he was married to for forty years.[2] He also has at least one son, whom he described as "the catch of the day".[1] However, this child didn't come from his wife, as he never gave her a child.[2]

Captain McCallister has hinted to the fact that he has engaged in "situational homosexuality" with his fellow sailors. However, McCallister once took a picture of Patty and Selma in the nude, a picture which he claims to need for "those lonely nights at sea".[10]

Despite having a wife, he once made out with Lindsay Naegle at Ned and Edna's wedding reception, but it was broken up by Marge who didn't want the party to have any "weird hook-ups".[11] Sea Captain and Naegle later got together again during 'Grown-Up Halloween'[12] He also dated Luann Van Houten.[13]

The Sea Captain was created by NBC's "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" host Conan O'Brien while he was a writer for The Simpsons. Voiced by Hank Azaria, the character first appeared in 1992 in the episode, "New Kid on the Block", as the owner of The Frying Dutchman all-you-can-eat seafood restaurant. In that episode, McCallister is sued by Homer for not letting him eat all he could eat. Homer Simpson's visit to the restaurant caused the captain to observe about him, "'Tis no man, 'tis a remorseless eatin' machine!"